The End of the Begining
by Hikari Alta
Summary: Mierei, five years after the end of the anime. Mirei's memories have been partially erased after an incident that occurred in the last days of STAND. Can Mirei reclaim her old life? Will a promise made five years ago be honored? Mirei x Jouichirou.
1. Chapter 1 Reflection

I do not own Virus Buster Serge or these characters.

Chapter 1- Reflection

The sunlight had that odd quality only seen in dreams and memories. Everything was bathed in gold, and the sky was a deep cerulean. The sound of laughter and music drifted through the air.

" _Mirei. I… don't know how to…"_

Suddenly, the scene changed. A deafening scream tore through the air. Lights flashed on the console only a few inches from her face, but she couldn't make sense of them. Her hand reached out as if in slow motion, almost languidly, as she pulled on the striped lever.

Then, blackness.

Mirei sat upright in bed, sweat trickling down her face. The yellow and white flowered sheets she had been laying on were wound around her legs. Her heart was pounding, and her mind was desperately clinging to the images from the dream as they quickly faded. She tried to engage her implant's replay mode, but was too slow in the transition, and heard the low tone that signaled a processing error.

_Damn. This Serenity Mark II is slow! Nothing like my old Halcyon 9…_ Mirei grumbled silently as she unwound the sheets from her legs.

_Halcyon…_

The word echoed in her mind as she silently signaled to the room processor to activate Morning Mode. The blinds whooshed silently upwards as the ambient lighting output increased by 100 lumens. The holographic projection panel flashed to life at the foot of the bed, and Mirei was shaken from her reverie by the loud voices of two morning show hosts.

"That's right, Yuuko! I haven't seen crowds this large down in the streets since the announcement of the End of Incubator in '97! Atlas Corporation's announcement of the Sonata series of implants has everyone trying to get to their local Style Showcase store to try one out. I bet…"

Mierei snapped her fingers, and the projection faded. She swung her feet over the side of her bed, and pushed herself up. She glanced out the window and sighed.

"Even up here on the 89th floor, I can't get away from the Sonata. I'm so sick of that thing, I could scream!" Mierei said to no one in particular as she lifted the loose nightshirt she was wearing over her head and flung it into a pile on the floor.

She casually glanced at her reflection in the window glass. At 20, she was Atlas Corporation's youngest team leader on the Sonata Project. She was revered all through the Nihon Autonomous Zone for her skills as a programmer and as a hacker. But in the window, she only saw a sad-eyed redheaded girl with heavy round breasts that had suddenly become too big for her otherwise small frame. She shook her head in disbelief as she took one, then the other soft hemisphere in her hands and squeezed.

"_And here I was worried that I'd always be flat. If only Erica could see me…" _the thought trailed off in her head.

Mirei often thought about her old coworkers in STAND- as much as she could remember of them, anyway. After the Tai Mo Shan Incident, and the subsequent 3 months of rehabilitation and reeducation she had undergone, many of the names and faces of the past had lost their clarity. But the dreams- the dreams continued unabated.

The dreams were the only way Mirei had of confirming she was still alive.


	2. Chapter 2 Birthday

I do not own Virus Buster Serge, or Mirei. The characters of Sunny, Kenji, and Chief Harata are mine.

Chapter 2- Birthday

The second the elevator doors slid open, Mirei was assaulted by a sandy-haired girl two years her senior, who was juggling a portable viewscreen in one hand and a stack of small boxes in the other.

"Mirei! There you are! You picked a great day to be late! I have three messages from the Chief that are marked Highest Priority, the tech support team in North America has been screaming my ear off for half an hour now about some error message when they initiate the Synchronization Protocol, and The Style Center in the Ginza seems to all ready be running short on inventory…" The girl stopped abruptly in mid sentence, and shoved the stack of boxes at a young man who was cowering behind Mirei in the elevator.

" Kenji! Don't just stand there! Take these down to Laboratory 6A now! They are waiting for you!" The sandy-haired girl spat the words out as she turned on her heel, leaving the young man with his mouth open, a half-formed response stuck in his throat.

Mirei cleared her throat, and turned to the young man.

"Better do what she says, Kenji. Looks like Sunny's on the warpath, and no one is safe!"

Mirei stepped out of the elevator, and the stainless steel doors slid shut silently behind her.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mirei. I shouldn't have yelled like that… at you, or at Kenji. This is just… You know. Today's the big day. The day we've all been working for. Sonata's birthday!" Tears welled up in Sunny's eyes, fighting with the huge grin that spread across her face.

"I'm so sorry. Forgive my rude behavior, Mirei-san." Sunny continued as she bowed deeply.

Mirei smiled at Sunny as she strode across the huge room that was Project Sonata's administrative center.

"It's OK, Sunny. I know this is a big day. I'm sorry that I'm late. I'll take those messages from the chief in my office now. Tell the tech people in North America to enter alpha-numeric sequence gamma when they see the error message- that should clear it. Tell Ginza that a second shipment will come in this afternoon."

"Yes! I'll get right on it! I knew you'd know just what to do!" Sunny beamed as she darted off in another direction.

Mirei opened the door to her office, and sat down behind the desk. Gauzy shades covered the large windows, and the small room seemed to glow with a surreal blue light. The large glass desk in the middle of the room was covered in an avalanche of viewscreens, small boxes, bits and pieces of computer chips and boards, and little character mascots and solar toys. Mirei cleared all of this aside, and pulled out her keyboard from the sliding tray under her desk. She initiated holoprojection, and began scrolling through the interoffice memos. When she arrived at the ones from Division Chief Harata, she paused and clicked on "open". A message popped up, informing Mirei that this was a Restricted Communication, and could only be viewed through her implant interface. She put a small headband-like device on her head, and plugged it into the port on the side of her keyboard. Suddenly, the room around her disappeared, and an image of Chief Harata flickered to life in her head. The chief was imposingly handsome, with his neatly trimmed dark hear, impeccable suit, and piercing blue eyes that looked out coolly from behind wire-rimmed glasses reminded her of someone… someone who had disappointed her greatly once…

"Congratulations on the success of Sonata, Team Leader McCann. We are all ready receiving positive sales reports from the Pacific Rim market. We are pleased to…" Mirei willed the message to skip forward, past the obligatory congratulations.

"… as you know, your former affiliation with LL Corporation and STAND makes you a unique asset for our organization. We have recently acquired some new files from the LL project archives that were supposed to be transferred to Atlas after the buyout four years ago, but seem to only recently have resurfaced in an old data drive that was mistakenly classified as peripheral. I would like you to have a look at some of this old data at your earliest possible convenience, as I feel it is important to take full advantage of any useful research LL might have…"

Again, Mirei fast-forwarded through the message.

"…I have forwarded you the first file, and would like you to report to me next week on its contents, Team Leader McCann. Again, congratulations on a job well…"

Mirei sighed as she broke the connection with the message server and removed the implant interface from her head.

"_What a great birthday present- for me, and for Sonata."_ Mirei grumbled to herself as she picked a viewscreen up from her desk , paged through the memos on the screen, and tossed it back down. "_One project isn't really enough, is it?"_

She stood up, straightened herself, and walked back out into the buzzing administrative center.


	3. Chapter 3 Celebration

I do not own Virus Buster Serge. Kenji and Sunny are mine.

Chapter 3- Celebration

"C'mon, Mirei! It's 8:30 all ready! Let's call it a night. I know a great little restaurant just a couple of minutes from here that…" Sunny tugged at Mirei's arm as she pleaded with her.

Mirei broke in. "…I've still got three more messages to answer from the office in Switzerland about the interface compatibility drivers, and I definitely need to check the updates from Saharan Africa's latest tech report…"

Sunny narrowed her hazel eyes at Mirei, and put her hands on her hips.

"Mirei, all of that can wait until morning. You are Team Leader, and we can't officially celebrate without the team Leader. Besides, we're all starving. All of us that are left, anyway. At this point, that's you, me, and Kenji-kun. Everyone who's sane all ready went home."

Mirei sighed. "Oh, all right. You win. I don't want your death by starvation on my hands."

Sunny immediately brightened. "Good! Let's go!"

"What about Kenji?" Mirei asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'll call him. He ran down to see if he could catch Suritami or Heinkels still at their desks- we still need their compatibility reports for the Serenity series peripherals." As Sunny spoke, she cocked her head to one side, and Mirei knew she was dialing Kenji. Sunny's eyes drifted as she connected the call through her implant.

"There. He'll be up in a minute." Sunny said as she returned to her desk in the middle of the room and started putting on her jacket.

"But you didn't say anything." Mirei replied.

"Oh, just beeping him's enough. "

Mirei arched her eyebrow. "Wow. You have him well-trained." She responded wryly.

The two of them made their way to the elevator. As they reached it, the bell dinged, and the doors slid open.

"Great timing, Kenji! We're finally going to eat!" Sunny cheerfully called as she stepped into the elevator before Kenji could respond.

"But, I don't even have my jacket! And I left stuff out all over my desk!" Kenji sputtered pleadingly as he looked first at Sunny, then at Mirei.

Mirei just shook her head and stepped into the elevator as Sunny pushed Kenji back and jabbed the button for the first floor simultaneously.

At the restaurant, Sunny kept up a running dialogue about the triumphs and trials of Sonata' s launch day.

"… and they even said Sonata is breaking all of Serenity's records in the Federated Territories! No one buys implants in the Federated Territories! It's great! Of course…"

Kenji leaned over to Mirei and whispered. "Uh, sorry, Mirei. I know you are probably tired, and you don't…"

Sunny stopped and looked at Kenji. "Do you have something to add?"

"Well, uh, I just think maybe we've talked enough shop for one day. Maybe Mirei would like to enjoy her drink in peace until the food comes."

Sunny blushed, and put her hand to her face. "Oh! I did it again, didn't I? I'm such a blabbermouth! I'm so sorry, Mirei-san! You are such a forgiving Team Leader! Please, don't think badly of me."

Mirei shook her head and took another drink of sake. "I don't mind. The sales figures were impressive today. That's why we're here, right? To celebrate?" Mirei paused a moment, and lifted her cup into the air. "To team Sonata! Onward and upward!"

Kenji and Sunny echoed Mirei as they held their own cups in the air. All three of them smiled at the toast.

The three coworkers continued the companionable banter through dinner and two more bottles of hot sake.

"So, Mirei," Kenji asked, turning to look Merei in the eye. "Is this going to be the most memorable date in your life? I mean, so far. You are the youngest Team Leader in Atlas history, and you just had your first major project launch with total success. That's big." Intensity and alcohol shone on his face.

"Well, yeah. It is a big day for me. It's big for a couple of reasons. Sonata's one." Mirei replied, a bit unsteadily.

"What's the other?" Sunny asked breathlessly as she leaned in to Mirei.

Mirei drained the last drop from her cup. "Well, it's my birthday today, too. My twenty-first. Sonata's birthday, and my birthday. So yeah, it's memorable."

"Mirei!" Sunny squealed. "Why didn't you tell us? I feel like a fool! I would have…"

Kenji broke in. "Wow! Happy birthday, Mirei-san! Many happy returns!"

"Thank you both." Mirei answered. "I've had a great evening with you two. That's recognition enough. But now, if you'll excuse me, I'm really tired, and kinda tipsy, and I think it's time to go home."

Mirei stood, and began to bow to her coworkers. As she did, she lurched forward. Kenji leapt up and grabbed her arm, and steadied her.

Sunny giggled. "Yep. It's official. You're drunk. Why don't you let Kenji-kun escort you home? He only lives a few blocks away from you."

"Oh, it's fine." Mirei began." I'll just call a cab."

"That's not necessary, Mirei-san! Let me go with you on the train! We'd be going the same direction anyway, and it's so much cheaper." Kenji offered.

"Well, I guess..." Mirei trailed off, as she looked at Kenji. Kenji was Sunny's age- an earnest, open faced fellow with a warm smile who was always eager to please. Mirei made it a policy not to get too familiar with team members outside of work, but she had to admit, she would feel better having someone go with her.

By the time the two of them made it to Mirei's apartment, she was having a hard time staying upright.

"Ohhh. I feel like the whole world is spinning. Wait. It is spinning, isn't it? Silly me." Mirei said as she leaned against the corridor wall.

Mirei had a hard time using the unlock command on her door as well, and finally had to manually input the code.

"Uh, are you going to be all right, Mirei?" Kenji asked as she staggered through the door.

Just then Mirei tripped, fell face-first on the floor, and giggled.

"I'll take that as a 'no'" Kenji mumbled as he walked over to Mirei and offered her his hand.

"Sometimes I see people who aren't really there." Mirei said in a conspiratorial whisper as Kenji guided her to the sofa.

"Did you know I had my brain badly scrambled, Kenji?" Mirei asked.

"Mirei-san, I think you've had way too much sake, and it's really affecting you…" Kenji nervously replied.

"No, NO!" Mirei shook her head violently. " Its not the sake. This is true. I was a member of STAND. In New Hong Kong. We fought Virus. Or so they tell me. I only remember bits and pieces. I have dreams, I see faces. I remember that I… that I had friends. But I don't remember THEM. My old implant… it got fried, it fried some of my neural pathways. I'm all alone. I don't even have memories to keep me company."

As Mirei finished, tears welled up in her eyes.

"You have all of Team Sonata, Mirei. And me. Always me. I'm going to say this, because you probably won't remember it in the morning. I… like you Mirei. I always have. I know it would never work, with us, but I …"

Before Kenji could finish, Mirei leaped on his lap, and covered his mouth with her own. She kissed him deeply, achingly, pouring her entire self into the wet, probing kiss. Kenji moaned, and sank lower into the sofa. He wrapped his arms around Mirei as his body responded to her touch. He began to fumble with the buttons on her light blue silk blouse, then he hungrily reached inside the shirt to rub and caress her firm breasts. Mirei broke free from the kiss and cried out, as she pulled the short, tight skirt she was wearing up and repositioned herself so that she was straddling Kenji's leg . She began to grind herself back and forth on his quaking knee as he managed to pull her shirt completely off and free her breasts from the lacy restraints of her bra.

Images flashed through Mirei's mind. She saw a handsome young man with chin-length brown hair and golden, almost feline eyes. She saw his hand reaching for hers, and heard him call, as if over a great distance.

"_Mirei... I… don't know how to…"_

"Jouichirou. Oh, Jouichirou!" Mirei called out.

She opened her eyes, but the man with the golden eyes was gone. In his place was a pale and shaken Kenji, his short, dark hair mussed, his pupils dilated, and his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Mirei." he said, the one word both a question and a statement.

In response, Mirei slid off of Kenji's knee, back to the sofa beside him. Her cheeks burned as she scrambled to put her shirt back on. He turned, shamefaced, and looked the other way. Neither spoke for a couple of minutes.

"I better go." Kenji said as he lifted himself off of the sofa. "Will you be OK alone?"

"Um, yes. I'll be fine." Mirei quietly answered.

Kenji began to walk to the door.

"Kenji?"

"Yes, Mirei."

"I'm…sorry. That was so inappropriate of me. All of it. I… I don't know what came over me." Mirei fumbled over the words.

Kenji looked over his shoulder at Mirei as he walked out. "Whoever Jouichirou is, he's a lucky guy."

"_Is he?"_ Mirei wondered as she wrapped her arms around her and shivered.


	4. Chapter 4 Translation

I do not own Virus Buster Serge. Sunny, Kenji, and Chief Harata are mine.

Ch. 4- Translation

Mirei traced lazy circles on the top of her glass desk with the tip of her finger. She had come in to the office early so that she could avoid Sunny and Kenji. Her head was still hazy and thick from the alcohol the night before, but the memory of what had happened with Kenji was sharp and fresh.

"_Why did I do that to Kenji? I know better than to get involved with someone on my team. And Jouichirou? Why did that name come out? Why does that name make me feel so… strange? I know he was a fellow STAND member, but could he have been…more than that to me?"_

Mirei was so lost in her thoughts, she almost missed the low jingling sound that signaled an incoming call. Her head snapped up as the call information appeared to scroll through the air in front of her, even though it was all in her head. She knew it was bad for her optic nerves to use internal viewing so much, but she always forgot to route her calls through the holoprojector. She saw that it was Chief Harata on the line.

"Yes, Chief Harata?" Mirei said as she answered the call. An image of the chief appeared before her.

"Team leader McCann. I was just checking to see if you had received my messages yesterday."

Mirei blanched as she sat more upright. She had forgotten to send a message back to the Chief about the assignment he had given her.

Mirei replied nervously to the Chief. "Oh, yes sir! I'm sorry, sir. I was so busy yesterday, I forgot to respond. I see no problem with getting a report back to you next week on the data."

"Very well. I have the utmost confidence in you. Please feel free to avail yourself of any resources you might need to facilitate your completion of this data review."

Mirei let out a small sigh of relief before responding. The Chief did not appear to be upset. "Yes sir. Thank you."

Chief Harata stared unblinkingly ahead. "Good luck, team Leader McCann. I eagerly await your report."

With that, the chief's image winked out, and the call was disconnected.

Mirei picked up the interface headband off of her desk, and put it on. The holoprojection flickered to life, and she opened the file the Chief had sent to her. She scrolled through the root directory.

"_This must have been old stuff_," Mirei thought to herself as she looked at the list. "_This was originally stored in SHDL format- I haven't seen that in a long time. At some point, it must have been converted into SHINE. That could be a problem. SHDL to SHINE conversions are notoriously unreliable and prone to data corruption."_

Miriei's fingers flew across her keyboard. She knew that most of the other people in the office thought she was super old-fashioned to use an external input device, but her time in New Hong Kong had made her wary of direct input. Her stint as a hacker made her especially wary about routing too many functions through her implant. Overreliance on implant functions drew energy away from neuro-firewall integrity. Mirei smiled bemusedly to herself as she contemplated these things. It was an ironic twist of fate that she could remember the intricacies of every hack she had ever initiated prior to joining STAND perfectly, but only could conjure up the face of her old best friend Erica in dreams.

The office slowly came to life outside of Mirei's door. She had messaged Sunny early and told her that she was not to be disturbed unless an emergency arose. She could hear the drone of a hundred conversations outside, and she knew today was going to be another busy day for Team Sonata.

Around 10:30, Mirei heard a knock on the door. She snapped her fingers to end holoprojection, and removed her interface device. She rubbed her temples as she looked up at the door.

"Come in." she called out to whoever was on the other side of the door.

The door opened, and Sunny came bustling through.

"Mirei! I know you don't want to be disturbed today, but the Chief of Operations in Pacifica has some technical questions, and you are the only one I know who can answer him." Sunny said apologetically as she stood across from Mirei.

"No, it's OK. I'm not getting very far on this work of mine, anyway. I'm reviewing some old data files for the Chief, but they're pretty badly corrupted from conversion."

Sunny giggled and replied. "Oh! That's what you're up to! I thought you were nursing a hangover from last night." She walked around the desk to hand Mirei a viewscreen and continued. "Conversion? From what to what?"

"SHDL to SHINE." Mirei responded with frustration. "The worst possible scenario. A lot of this data is probably irretrievable, unless I can get hold of it in original form."

"SHDL?" Sunny said, as she looked at Mirei blankly. "What's that?"

"A really old data formatting standard- Super High Density Layers. I bet this data was originally stored mechanically on some sort of disk drive. I only know about it because one of my mentors as a kid had a bunch of stuff stored on old SHDL quads, and she made me learn how to use that system. She said it was good to 'know my roots'. The problem is that it can't convert directly into one of the biodigital standards like Super High Index Neuro Encoding, or even Protocol 22. Someone got sloppy when transferring this data out, and didn't bother to run it through an intermediary format like Alternative Lexicon Format or Data Bio Bridge. ."

"Wow. That sounds intense. I've only even heard of half of what you're talking about, and I spent four years studying Biointegrated Technology. My Digi-Neuro professors probably had never even heard of some of that stuff! That's why you're the Team Leader, and I'm the lowly Assistant." Sunny said as she shook her head.

"Oh, mostly it's pretty useless knowledge. Unless you're trying to get into really old stuff, like this. I don't think anyone except for security forces or military units even use any non bio formats anymore." Mirei said as she looked at the viewscreen Sunny handed her.

"Why would they use non bio formats? Don't most soldiers and security officers have implants?" Sunny asked.

"Actually, not all of them do. And even the ones who do don't use them in the field if they are under threat of direct hack. They prefer to go old school, like external data input and storage- even external processing. Sometimes, they'll even opt for mechanical storage. It's crude, but durable. And if you get hacked, at least they aren't hacking directly into your brain."

Sunny smiled. "that's why you use the keyboard, eh? Old habits die hard."

"Um, I'm not sure what you mean…" Mirei trailed off.

"Oh, it's OK Mirei. Everyone knows you used to work for STAND. I bet you have some really juicy stories!"

"Actually, I don't. Not anymore. The very thing we were talking about- a direct neuro hack- really messed up my medium-term memory. I don't know if you've ever heard of the Tai Mo Shan Incident, but I was there. It took me three months and a lot of therapy to just regain functionality." Mirei said with a far-off look in her eyes.

"Oh, wow! Yeah, I did hear about that. A crazy cyber-terrorist group wanted to recreate Black Valentine, right after the End of Incubator. I knew STAND was involved, but I didn't realize…"

Mirei stared at the floor for a moment, then spoke. "I don't actually remember anything. Sometimes, I have dreams… Apparently, I flew to Tai Mo Shan peak in STANDS's Razorback vehicle, and was attempting to lock on to the terrorists' position when they sent out a feedback spike . I was interfaced at the time- I don't know why- and it blew my implant. Apparently, I interpreted it as an external attack to the vehicle, and auto ejected. I was too low, my chute didn't deploy… I guess I was quite a mess when they found me."

"Oh, Mirei. I'm really sorry. I didn't know. I was being insensitive to even ask."

Mirei forced a smile, and assumed a businesslike tone. "Well, it's all over now. No sense in making a big deal out of it. It seems as if I'm going to have to return to the scene of the incident anyway. I think I'm going to have to take a look in the old LL archives in New Hong Kong to find the original version of this data if I'm going to have anything to report back to the Chief. I'm putting you in charge while I'm gone, Sunny. It should take a day- two at most to locate the originals."

"Mirei, I'm honored. But should you go by yourself? New Hong Kong isn't exactly the kind of place a person should travel to alone. Besides, I've heard those archives are immense. If you really want to find the data in one or two days, you need an assistant. Really- think of it from an efficiency standpoint. The longer you are away from here, the more Sonata suffers. You are the only one who can really answer the big questions. You can leave anyone in charge, really- the outcome will be the same." Sunny observed.

Mirei hemmed and hawed over her answer. "Oh, that isn't true… you are quite competent, and I really don't know if …"

Sunny broke in. "No, I'm not competent. Not in the same way you are. You are the brains behind Sonata. Everyone knows that. We can't afford to be without our brain for long. I don't want to tell you what to do, but…."

Mirei interrupted. "…but you are. OK. You can come. Make reservations at a hotel- I like the Kowloon. Arrange to rent a small air shuttle. There is no sense in taking a transport there- you can't rely on the mass transit. I do remember enough to know that New Hong Kong is a tough town to get around in if you don't have wheels or wings of your own. Oh- and tell Kenji that he's in charge while we are gone. I had better clean up this Pacifica tech nonsense before we leave."

Sunny snapped a bright salute. "Yes, m'am!"


	5. Chapter 5 Return

I do not own Virus Buster Serge. Sunny and Macus Yu are mine.

Chapter 5- Return

"There has been a Kowloon Hotel on that site for almost 200 years! After the war, they built the current building on the site of the old one. It says here that they have two indoor pools, and a 24-hour all-you-can-eat buffet!" Sunny gushed as she scanned over the hotel guide . Her eyes tracked through space as she read the hotel biography through her implant.

Mirei kept her eyes on the shuttle's readouts as she began descending into New Hong Kong. It was 2:30 in the afternoon, but it looked much later, as the grey overcast was robbing the sun of much of its brightness. The drab, oppressive weather was a perfect commentary on the city itself. New Hong Kong was 2890 kilometers from Tokyo, but really, it was a world away. The hustle and bustle of Tokyo, the clean and prosperous look of its architecture and citizenry was conspicuously absent in New Hong Kong. Instead, New Hong Kong looked like a city that had been half abandoned and forgotten- which was true- a monument to a failed society. While Tokyo had suffered tremendous devastation in the quake that struck it in 2051, many historical buildings had been saved. The city had bounced back, and a real commitment had been made to replace what was lost by livable, vibrant architecture. On the other hand, when Old Hong Kong had been all but razed in the War of the Kingdoms in 2058, the rebuilding had been done with great haste, and no real plan had been imposed on the redevelopment. While the Harbor district and central city had been lavished with much money and state of the art buildings, the surrounding neighborhoods had been cheaply and shoddily built, with the result being that the whole city rotted in on itself. Now even the central city looked grimy and worn as the poverty and social issues of the outlying areas had spilled in. When LL Corporation had built its mammoth world headquarters in the heart of the city, it had been a showplace for the entire world to admire. As the shuttle swooped into the traffic patterns around the ponderous inverted pyramid, Mirei noticed the cracked and broken windows in the façade, and the general poor condition of the building. Mirei landed the shuttle on the parking deck off of the 50th floor of the LL Building. Being around the building brought fragments of memories to the top of Mirei's mind. Images of faces and battles and equipment swirled in her head.

"_This is where it all began for me." _ Mirei thought.

If anything could bring back memories of her time in STAND, this was it. The smooth, black exterior glass was pitted and cracked in places, and a film of dust coated it, but the building was still imposing. Just the sheer size of the structure communicated strength and mastery. Mirei and Sunny entered the building through the large east lobby. The huge 20 story waterfall that dominated the atrium space was dry, and only about half of the recessed lighting was turned on. The abundance of black granite coupled with the complete absence of human activity gave the place a funeral air. Mirei walked up to the large reception desk, every step echoing through the cavernous space. In the past, the curved black granite counter would have been staffed by as many as 20 receptionists. Now, it was empty except for a lone holoprojection screen. Mirei stood in front of the sensor below the screen, and the floating Atlas logo was replaced by the face of a blond, bespectacled man of about 30.

"May I help you?" The man asked.

"Yes. I'm Mirei McCann, Team Leader of Project Sonata . I need to look at some archive data."

"Project Sonata, eh? You must be from HQ in Tokyo. You're a pretty big shot to send rooting around in the archives." The man responded wryly.

"I'm here at the request of Division Chief Harata." Mirei coolly responded. "I'm working on a tight schedule."

"Yeah, OK." The man said as he shrugged. "Usually when HQ sends someone over to personally retrieve stuff from the archive, they send a data request form over before the person gets here so that we can be ready to fulfill the request. I'm not used to team leaders just showing up to look around, that's all. Please interface with the system so I can verify your clearance."

Mirei placed her interface device on her head, and plugged into the base of the holoprojector. "Welcome, Team Leader McCann," the man responded after a second. "I am Head Archivist Yu. Please make your way to the elevator bank, and come up to the third floor. That's where my office is, and I think it will be easier for me to help you find what you are looking for from there."

Mirei and Sunny walked over to the row of seven elevators. The doors of the middle elevator slid open, and they stepped in.

"This is kind of creepy." Sunny said. "It's like some sort of haunted mausoleum."

"Yeah." Mirei responded. "There was a time when this place was hopping with activity. I guess when they made this Atlas' archive center, they didn't feel like they needed to bother with a large staff."

"That's an understatement. Having the head archivist in charge of reception? That just seems odd."

The doors of the elevator slid open, and Sunny and Mirei stepped out into the hall. A sign on the wall indicated that the head archivist's office was on the other side of the large workspace in front of them. Four desks floated in a space that had been designed for fifty. The head archivist's door was open, but he was nowhere to be seen. Mirei and Sunny stepped into the office and looked around.

"Well, it doesn't seem as if the head archivist suffers from a neatness compulsion." Sunny said as she looked at the stacks of viewscreen precariously perched all over the room. A table along one wall was covered with little robotic toys and figurines. A mobile featuring toy Variable Gears hung over the desk.

"No. Neatness was never my hangup." A voice rang out from the doorway.

Startled, Mirei whirled around to face the voice. Standing in the doorway was a short man with messy blond hair and twinkling green eyes behind dark-rimmed glasses. He wore a wrinkled white lab coat over a blue striped t-shirt and baggy tan shorts. On his feet were beat up looking combat boots of ancient design.

"Head Archivist Yu, I presume?" Mirei sad as she took stock of the man standing in front of her.

"You presume correctly, Team Leader McCann. Sorry to sneak up on you like that. I was down the hall working on my little side project when you called in. Call me Macus. As you can tell, we don't stand on ceremony much around here. There are only five of us, and we'll often go days on end without actually seeing each other."

"Macus?" Mirei said as she staggered back a little. "Your name is Macus?"

"Yep. It's a variation on 'Marcus'. It's kind of a family name. My mom and her sister were pregnant at the same time, and my aunt read some book with the name in it. They both really liked it, and teased that whoever had her baby first could use the name. I was born two weeks before my cousin, but my aunt still named him Macus anyway. I get called "Big Mac" and my cousin is called "Little Mac" because of our birth order, which is pretty ironic now that we're grown, because 'Little Mac' is about twice my size! Families. Go figure."

"Macus Bogard. Is 'Little Mac' Macus Bogard?" Mirei asked in a shaky voice.

"The one and only- my cousin was the legendary STAND stud. I thank him for making my name famous."

Mirei shook her head. "Do… where is Macus now?" Macus chuckled. "Missing in action since right after End of Incubator. My theory is that he took off to a deserted island and is shacked up there with a bevy of beautiful girl and boy toys. That is something I could see Little Mac doing. He was always serious about his work, but he was a serious party animal, too. Since the mission was accomplished, he probably felt he deserved a little R&R."

Mirei tried to remember everything she could about Macus. He was intense… serious. She remembered the name of his Variable Gear- The Gold Discord. And …Macus had a brother . A brother he was searching for. "I…I don't think so. He was so serious. And his brother…" Mirei said softly, trailing off.

Macus stopped and looked hard at Mirei. "What do you know about his brother? Wait. Mirei Mc… are you the Mirei from STAND?"

"I am." Mirei replied.

Macus looked around, and shut the door behind him. " Mirei. I should have guessed. Little Mac talked about you. I'm sorry about the desert island crack earlier. I know my cousin isn't doing anything like that. I just don't like talking about him with people I don't know. Truth be told, I'm worried about him. I was on the LL development team for the Variable Gears STAND used. After Tai Mo Shan, everything got weird. They shut us down, and STAND disappeared. Little Mac had hinted at some discord in the ranks shortly before the End of Incubator, but I…" he stopped, and then started again. "There isn't much to do for an out-of-work VG engineer in New Hong Kong, but I knew I couldn't leave without knowing what had happened to Little Mac. I took this job because it gives me a lot of free time, and not much oversight. I use the old VG labs to work on my real passion- making specialty VG's for people who want them. I also comb the files for any clues about what happened to Little Mac, and STAND. Anything you could tell me, I'd appreciate."

Mirei looked up at Macus, a sad expression on her face. "I'm sorry, Macus. I really am. I don't know anything- less than you, in fact. I was severely injured at Tai Mo Shan, and my memory has never been the same since."

Macus sighed, and walked over to his desk. "That's OK. I understand. I got a message from Little Mac about two weeks after the incident. He said things had gone terribly wrong, and that he'd be out of touch for a while. I just keep hoping he'll reemerge one day. Maybe when he does, he'll have his little brother Sam with him. Sam disappeared about ten years ago. First, we were told he was a victim of Virus, but things didn't add up. That's why Macus got involved with STAND in the first place."

For a moment, everyone stood in silence. Then, Sunny spoke up. "Um, Team Leader, about the data files…"

Mirei snapped to attention. "Oh yes. The data files. We are looking for the original versions of these files. I suspect the originals will be on old SHDL quads. What's your drive name?"

"YuAtlas5" Macus replied.

Mirei cocked her head to the side, and transferred the data to Macus. Macus put on an interface, and connected it to the holoprojector on his desk. Suddenly, a swirl of numbers and letters materialized over the projector.

"Sheesh. This is really messed up. Someone goofed big-time, and transferred this directly into SHINE." Macus said as he shook his head.

Mirei nodded in agreement. "That's the conclusion I have come to as well. I really need to look at the original quads to make sense of it. I reconstructed the file name and date stamp as best I could. That's really all I have to go on."

Macus narrowed his eyes and began to wave his hands around. The projection changed, and a 3-D image of the LL building overlaid with different codes popped up. "Hmmm. OK. Well, knowing its on a quad narrows things down a bit- we keep all of the quads in the subbasement. No one accesses them too frequently any more. And let's see… We're probably looking at range 213- 245. That's in the northwest corner. Probably on the upper two shelves, those are years 2070-2075. That's just a guess, though. The stuff down there- its pretty helter-skelter. That's actually LL's original archive. We left most of the old stuff in place when we took over. Truth be told, some of it never even got cataloged. That this data ever got transferred- as incorrectly as the job was done notwithstanding- is a bit of a surprise. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. If you want, I'll go down right now, look around. I can have it sent to you in a couple of days, if it still exists."

Mirei shook her head. "No, that's OK. Sunny and I will go look for it ourselves, if you don't mind."

"Mind? Not at all. I just think you'll find it to be a bit of a task. I'll come along and help, but this could take a while. The row inventories are pretty incomplete- you'll literally be pulling down storage cases and sorting through them. On top of that, we only have two old quad drives left in the building, and they are pretty touchy. So if the quads aren't marked externally, that's going to slow us down even more. But, it's your show, and if you want to be in on the grunt work, that's fine by me. I'd call in my other archivists, but one's out today, and the other is fulfilling other requests. So, I'm afraid it'll just be the three of us."

"Oh, Head Archivist Yu, we wouldn't want to impose- we can just go down ourselves." Sunny piped up.

"Impose? Do I look like a man with too much to do? Besides, I love a challenge!" Macus said, his green eyes shining. "Let's go! Next stop- The Black Hole."

Mirei looked at him. "What?"

"Oh, that's our nickname for the subbasement files."

"Great." Said Mirei.


	6. Chapter 6 Exploration

I do not own Virus Buster Serge. Sunny, Macus "Big Mac" Yu, and the spiderbots with laser beams are mine 

Chapter 6- Exploration

"We'll have to switch to stairs at the ground floor", Macus said as he led Mirei and Sunny back to the elevator bank. "My maintenance 'crew' – all two of them- has yet to find a way to keep the special elevator to the subbasement working. It's tied in to the old security system, which we had to completely take offline."

"Oh, that's fine. It's been a while since I've had a good workout." Mirei replied .

The decent into the subbasement only highlighted the overall state of disrepair the LL Building was in. Old office furniture crowded the landings on the stairwell, and when they finally reached the subbasement, the corridors were lighted by a few flickering panels at random intervals. A musty smell of disuse filled the air.

Macus took on the role of tour guide as they journeyed deeper into the bowls of the building. "I know it's not much to look at now, but this was once a state-of-the-art facility. Down that corridor to the left was the largest AI lab in the world before Atlas built the Kuzumaki facility. And the next corridor, over there, linked to…"

Mirei interrupted… "The STAND complex."

"Oh yeah- I forgot. I'm talking to an insider here. Sorry. Here we are- the entrance to the old LL archives, and home to our ragtag collection of obsolete storage media." Macus fished a card out of his pocket, and swiped it through a reader. "Quaint, isn't it? LL believed old school was the best school when it came to security. They had layer after layer of tech guarding this place. It took forever to deactivate it all and put in a regular double-challenge neuro reader. We didn't even bother trying down here."

"Having redundancy built into a system is smart." Mirei calmly said as she stepped through the doors.

The archive section was even darker than the rest of the subbasement. "Black Hole" seemed to be an appropriate moniker, as the walls were sheathed in some sort of black material that was supposed to be impenetrable to electromagnetic waves. Eight-foot-tall metal storage shelves were lined up in rows that seemed to stretch endlessly down the building's west side.

"Now, we need to head down that aisle…" Macus began.

"What's that?" Sunny blurted.

"What's what?" Macus asked.

"That sound. That clinking sound. Is someone else down here with us?" Sunny questioned Macus as she looked around.

"Nope. None of my people, anyway. Probably rats. We've been having problems with…"

This time, Mirei broke in. "I just heard it too. I don't think it's …"

At that moment, something leaped off of the top of the nearest shelving unit and landed with a metallic clang on the floor about six feet in front of Mirei. In the low light, I t was hard to tell what it was, but it was about three feet tall, and had a red light on the top of it.

"Definitely not rats!" Mirei cried as she sprang to the side and rolled. "Sunny, get down!"

In that instant, all of her training raced back to the front of her mind. Mirei jumped up again, and immediately put the shelving unit between herself and the metallic thing. She heard the sound clearly now- the clink-clink of metal appendages hitting the concrete floor. She had to think, and think fast. Suddenly, she remembered what that sound was, and she knew it wasn't good.

"Macus!" Mirei cried out.

"Yeah, over here. Behind you. What in the Hell…"

Mirei spoke again. "Macus, listen. I think I know what this is. What they are. There are at least three of them. They are a part of the security system. They are automatic sentries. Probably tripped when we came in. When I came in. I'm in the system…" Mirei trailed off.

At that moment, Mirei heard a crash, and another sentry landed in front of her. It looked like a giant metal spider with one red, glowing eye. Suddenly, the eye blinked. Mirei threw herself down, and rolled again. A lance of hot red light shot out of the sentry, hitting the concrete floor where Mirei had been a second earlier. The sentry reoriented to her new position with a ratcheting sound. At that moment, before she could even think, Mirei grabbed a viewscreen off of the shelf above her, and tossed it to the floor behind the sentry. The sound confused it, and it swiveled towards the viewscreen. Mirei then leapt up, and pushed hard on the shelf next to her. It began to sway, and then toppled over, onto the sentry. The sentry was crushed by the weight of all of the storage cases, and its red light winked out.

"Macus! You have to get to the main control panel by the door. Enter the stand down code." Mirei said to the general area behind her as she scanned the room for other sentries. "Sunny, are you all right?"

"Yeah. Fine. I'm…"

Mirei heard more clinking.

"Get down! Another one is coming. Macus, hurry up!" Mirei screamed as she looked around desperately for something to use as a weapon. She spied a leg of the first sentry poking up through the wreckage of the shelf, grabbed it, and twisted hard. The appendage came off in her hand at the exact moment the next sentry landed on the floor. Mirei swung the leg and bashed at the red light of the new sentry. It made a buzzing sound, then the ratcheting sound again. Before it could finish what it was doing, Mirei had jumped into the air, coming down with all of her weight onto the metal leg, driving it squarely into the top of the second sentry. The sentry's "eye" exploded in a cloud of sparks, and the metal legs convulsed twice as it collapsed into a heap on the floor.

A sound behind her caused Mirei to swing around, tensed to spring.

"Whoa, cowgirl! It's me. I just entered the stand down code, though by the look of things," Macus gestured to the wreckage behind her, "there isn't much left to have stand down."

Mirei let out a large breath, and let her shoulders slump. It had been so long since she had been in a spot like that. The adrenaline rush actually felt good. She suddenly looked up, and pushed past Macus.

"Sunny! Sunny! Where are you?" she called as she looked around.

"Here." Sunny said as she shimmied out from the space under a shelving unit.

"Thank goodness!" Mirei said as she helped Sunny dust herself off.

"I'm really sorry..." Macus began as he ran up to Sunny and Mirei. "I don't know what happened. All of the security was supposed to be disabled. I didn't even know we had giant metal spider thingies lurking down here."

"It's not your fault, Macus. It's mine. See, a long time ago, I tried to hack into LL's archives. That, ironically, is how I got into STAND. LL had a policy of recording the brainwave signatures of all convicted hackers, and I guess that my entry into this area must have activated the sentries. Thank goodness for us, they didn't seem to be operating at full power. If they had been, we'd have been toast." Mirei said as she shook her head.

Macus looked at Mirei with shining eyes. "You amaze me, Team Leader McCann. You are apologizing to me, after I led you into a room with two giant metal spiders that wanted to cut us in half with laser beam eyes- giant spiders that YOU single-handedly took down, I might add."

"Uh, three giant metal spiders." Sunny corrected, as she pointed up to another sentry, poised on a shelf ahead of them, arrested by the stand down order in mid-crouch.

Macus slapped his thigh. "Hot damn! There's lucky number three, just waiting for us! What a rush!"

"Can we still get to the data?" Mirei interrupted.

"All business. That's what I like about you, Team Leader. Yeah, I think so. We'll just have to go around the other side." Macus replied.

When they reached the area Macus thought the data might be stored in, they all stopped and looked.

"Well, here we are. These four rows here," He pointed at the huge metal shelves in front of them, "All the way down to the end of the wall. The top two shelves are our target, so I'll try to scare up some stepladders."

"I'll check these inventory lists." Sunny said as Macus moved away. She grabbed a viewscreen off of a hook on the nearest shelf, and started to poke at the touch screen. "Ugh. This is a mess. Half of what's on here is listed as 'Unidentified File' with a date."

Macus came back, dragging a couple of wheeled metal stepladders. "Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. We're going to have to physically check the storage cases. I'll try to get that old computer hooked up to the quad drive over there up and running, if you guys want to start looking."

Sunny and Mirei began the tedious job of opening the storage cases, and rooting through the jumble of quads in each one. The small, square plastic quads were often unmarked, making the task even more frustrating. Macus seemed to be having frustrations of his own- Mirei could hear him cursing at the old machine as he tried to get it to boot successfully. After a while, she hopped down from her ladder, and went over to Macus.

"Having problems?" Mirei asked.

"Oh,not really. It's just this stupid external input device." Macus said as he punched at keys with one finger.

Mirei giggled. "We are going to be here forever, at that rate. Here, let me have a crack at it."

Macus gave Mirei a doubtful look as he stood. "Sure thing, boss. But these keyboards are harder than they look. You might want to…"

Mirei sat down, and pulled the keyboard closer. Her fingers flashed across the keys, and the screen on the computer erupted into different displays.

Macus let out a low whistle. "Wow! First you take out the spiders like some sort of extreme fighting superstar, and now this! I seriously think I'm in love. And what you are doing to that keyboard with your hands- I'm getting hot just watching you."

Mirei arched her eyebrow at Macus as she looked at his reflection in the computer screen. "Why don't you help Sunny with the search? I think I can manage here by myself."

Macus smiled, saluted, and turned back to the shelves. Mirei felt a blush burn her cheeks. No one had talked to her in such a teasing, flirtatious way since… since Jouichirou. His feline eyes flashed through her mind again, and her blush deepened. How was it possible for a memory to make her feel…_that _way?

The hours passed, and Sunny and Macus brought stacks of quads for Mirei to look at. Nothing seemed to be the data Mirei was looking for. Around 9:00 that evening, Macus brought a couple of new quads to Mirei. He looked around, and upon seeing Sunny busily searching a storage container at the end of a row, he leaned into Mirei.

"Here. You might want to take a look at these."

Mirei responded without looking up. "OK. Put them on the pile. Do they look good?"

Macus spoke in a low voice. "If by good you mean interesting, yes. Look at them next, OK?"

Mirei sighed, and grabbed one of the new quads. "Sure. This one's a bust, anyways."

Mirei absently twirled the new quad in her hand as she ejected the old one. There was something different about it. It looked cleaner and newer, and most interestingly, the little sliding piece that revealed the storage medium when the quad was in the drive was made out of G12 polymer, not the usual metal.

"_Hmm. That's unusual. These must be newer quads that got mixed up with the old ones somehow. But who would be storing data on quads recently enough for them to be made of G12…" _Mirei's thoughts trailed off.Then, the realization hit her._ "STAND! STAND used quads to back up data!" _ Memories swept back over Mirei in a torrent. "_I remember using quads thousands of times… putting them in drives, accessing them, handing them to Macus and Serge and Erica, to Jouichirou… and Raven. Raven! How did I forget you, Papa Raven? You gave me a second chance; you gave me my purpose…"_

Mirei's hands shook as images of Raven's stern face flashed in her head. She slid the quad into the drive, and the STAND shield flashed on the screen. Mirei swallowed hard as she tried to access the quad. After a few minutes, she realized the combination of her antiquated computer and inability to remember any old STAND passwords was going to make getting into the data impossible at that time. She ejected the quad and slipped it and the other two Macus brought her into the case she had brought with her. She stretched and stood.

"Hey guys." Mirei called. "It's getting late. We'd better call it a night if we want to find anything open for dinner."

Sunny came towards Mirei from one of the rows. "Yeah. I'm starved! We should check out the all night buffet at our hotel!"

Macus approached Mirei from the opposite direction, and gave her a knowing glance. "Yep. It's late. And since I'm betting I'll have another date with you ladies bright and early tomorrow, I better get my beauty sleep."

"Oh, you can count on that date. We'll see you at 7:00 sharp tomorrow." Mirei said.

"Hopefully, we'll have better luck." Sunny lamented.

"I think things are all ready looking up." Macus said as he led them out of the archives.

"We'll see." Mirei said noncommittally as she gripped her case more tightly to her side. "At least I got the workout I've been needing- nothing gets the heart pumping like a good battle with spiderbots." She looked at Macus with a smile in her eyes.

This time, it was Macus' turn to blush.


	7. Chapter 7 Recall

I do not own Virus Buster Serge. Sunny and Moonrise are mine.

Chapter 7- Recall

Sunny kept up a constant stream of conversation at dinner, but Mirei was preoccupied by the STAND quads, and barely responded to Sunny's barrage of comments and questions.

"… So Mirei, what did you think about that last batch of quads? Do you think we're getting any closer? This is really like looking for a needle in a haystack. Aren't you glad you invited me along? Mmmmm. You've got to taste the cherries jubilee. It's outstanding!" Sunny stopped for a second to catch her breath and lick her spoon.

Mirei stared at her reflection in the window next to their table. It was late, so she and Sunny were two of the last customers in the hotel restaurant.

"And what about 'Big Mac'? He's quite a cad, isn't he? I'm not totally sure, but I think he touched my butt one time on purpose when I was walking by him in one of the rows. Mirei? Earth to Mirei. Is anyone home?" Sunny teasingly asked.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I'm just tired, and I'm trying to think of the best way of proceeding tomorrow. I think I'll call Chief Harata and have him send the rest of the files. There's no sense in making another trip down here if we can find it all at once." Mirei mused as she swirled a spoon around a glass of iced tea.

"Good call." Sunny said as she attacked a daifuku.

"Well, I'm going up to bed now. I'll see you in the lobby at 6:30 in the morning." Mirei said as she stood and dusted crumbs off of her lap.

"Sure. I'm just going to make one more trip to the dessert table…" Sunny mumbled as she licked anko from her fingers.

Mirei rode the elevator to the 12th floor in silence.

At 2:00 am, Mirei sat up in bed, and turned on the lights. She had been tossing and turning for hours, haunted by the STAND quads. She desperately wanted to access the information on them, but she didn't have the proper resources on hand to do so. She pulled the quads out of her case, and absently tapped one against her knee. If only she could contact some of her old hacker crew. They could make quick work of these quads.

"_Well, why can't I contact them? I am in new Hong Kong, and I know they would be willing to help…" _ Mirei thought to herself.

The problem was, she didn't want to contact them from the hotel, and she definitely didn't want to use her implant. She decided to go down to an old hacker hangout she knew- The Golden Lotus Café- which had a back room devoted to illegal holotrip brokering. She looked down at the black tailored pants and crisp white blouse laid out on the end of the bed. She sure couldn't go to the Golden Lotus in _that_. She pulled her pink striped nightshirt off, and looked at it. "_A few cuts here and there, and a belt around the waist..._" she mused as she dialed room service and asked for a pair of scissors.

Mirei pulled her black knee-length trench coat tighter around her. She had not dressed like this in a long time, and she felt self-conscious. She had fashioned her nightshirt into a minidress, and had cut a pair of black pantyhose into a pair of footless Capri tights. Her black ankle boots, which looked so conservative with her dress pants, looked daring paired with her artfully ripped tights. She knew the costuming was essential, though, if she wanted to avoid trouble in the Golden Lotus. If she had gone in her usual clothes, they would have taken her for a security officer looking to make a bust.

When Mirei reached the Golden Lotus, she paused at the door for a second. Once she went in, there would be no turning back. She was committing herself to uncovering whatever was on those quads, no matter how disruptive or unpleasant that information may be.

The Golden Lotus was a dirty, nondescript all-night diner with painted-over front windows and a few ratty looking booths along one wall, and four scarred-up tables down the center of the room. Even though it was almost 3:00 AM, the café was doing a healthy business. Occasionally, a patron would stand and make his way casually down the hallway leading to the back of the restaurant. Mirei sat down in an empty seat in the booth closest to the door, and nodded to one of the servers as he made his way past the next table.

He came by in a moment with a dirty viewscreen and a glass of water.

"The specials are there on top. We're out of the soup, but everything else's available." The server said as he pointed at the viewscreen.

"I'm in the mood for something sweet." Mirei said, hoping the code phrase hadn't changed.

"Sweet, huh?" the server said as he looked emotionlessly at Mirei's face. "How much you looking at spending?"

"Oh, money's no object. But I definitely need something with a lot of chocolate." Mirei replied.

"Chocolate?" Mirei had the server's attention now. "How dark?"

"The darkest you've got." Mirei coolly replied. "Dark Chocolate" was code for an untraceable computer terminal with high-level firewalls.

"Just a minute. I gotta see what we've got in the kitchen. What did you say your name was again?"

"I didn't." Mirei responded. "But you can call me Drop Head".

A woman who had been cleaning off a table across the room walked up to Mirei. "It's been a while. We heard you were taken out of circulation permanently after Tai Mo Shan."

"Rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated." Mirei said as she looked at the woman. "Do you have what I need, Moonrise? "

"Sure I do. Fees have gone up the last couple of years- business is pretty bad right now. It'll cost you 50 real , 75 if we have to chase any rabbits."

"I understand. Do you know Guru Mother' s latest drop?" Mirei asked, as Moonrise showed her to the back room.

"Guru Mother? This is sounding like a 75 real night to me. You can ping Guru Mother at Chaser's post office, but if you need her in the actual, I can direct link her for a small price."

"You do that. Will 100 real cover tonight's services?" Mirei asked.

"How big are the rabbits going to be?" Moonrise said as she opened a second door.

"I don't know. We may not get any. If we isolate correctly, we should be OK." Mirei responded as she walked past on older, balding man linked into a holotrip outfit. The way he was writhing in the chair and moaning left little doubt in Mirei's mind that he was on a sex sim. "Oh, and I'm going to need to be in a private room. I can't concentrate with these sim seekers tripping out."

"Understood. I think we can come to terms. Follow me." Moonrise put her hand on a metal pad by another door, and the door slid open. Inside the final sanctum of the Golden Lotus was a room that looked like a cross between a spaceship bridge and a computer museum. Huge viewscreens and holoprojectors lined the walls, and computers of all sizes and descriptions were set up in stations around the room. "You can use that outfit over there." Moonrise pointed to a cluster of computers on the far wall.

"Do they have a quad drive?" Mirei asked.

"Not at the moment, but I can switch one over." Moonrise made a quick gesture with her left hand, and the server who had been following them walked over to a metal cabinet and fished out a quad drive.

"Thanks." Mirei said as she sat down.

"Guru Mother is waiting at the House of Falling Leaves." Moonrise said as she stared off in the air for a minute. "Her username is Factor."

Mirei shook her head as she put on her interface, pulled the keyboard on the table closer, and accessed the computer in front of her. The House of Falling Leaves was a site hackers often used to remotely link up for jobs. Mirei typed furiously as she negotiated the multiple challenges.

" _I had forgotten what a suspicious bunch hackers are."_ Mirei thought as she finally gained access to the site. She found Guru Mother's username on the list, and clicked on it.

A line of text flashed across the screen.

FACTOR: _Little Drop Head. I'm glad to hear that you are all right._

Mirei replied, using the random username the site had generated for her.

SINK: _I'm fine. I need help, though. I've got some data I need to get into._

FACTOR: _Format/medium/age/security?_

SINK: _ALF/Quads/Unknown but within the last ten years/Unknown but possible rabbits._

FACTOR: _ Is this STAND related?_

SINK: _Yes. _

The cursor blinked on the screen after Mirei's last response for a few moments. Mirei understood Guru Mother's reticence about opening STAND files. If the job went bad, a remote alarm could be tripped that would send rabbits, or reverse hack programs back at them.

FACTOR: _I'm in. Do you have what you need to isolate the data?_

Mirei breathed a sigh of relief. She knew Guru Mother was taking a risk, helping her with this job.

SINK: _I should. I'm setting up the playpen as we speak. _

Miriei's eyes darted back and forth as she finished her isolation program, and she looked at the ceiling for a moment as she transferred it to the Lotus' computer.

SINK: _It's done. I'm going to load the quad now. _

FACTOR: _Give me a minute… OK, this looks pretty standard- a triple back system. I can decrypt… wait. It's got a keyhole. Very clever. Are you sure you didn't encrypt these originally?_

Mirei shook her head sadly.

SINK: _I probably did, but I don't remember. I'll start on the keyhole. _

FACTOR: _Good. I've almost got the first tumbler thrown. Watch for rabbits. _

Mirei's hands continued to fly across the keys. If she _had_ encrypted this, she had done the job well. She was close…

SINK: _I found a rabbit. I deactivated it. You getting anyplace with your end?_

FACTOR: _I'm almost done. Get ready to receive my … Oh hell! A rabbit, and it's running. _

SINK: _Is the playpen holding?_

FACTOR: _Yeah. OK. I got it. The tumblers are down._

SINK: _Key is turned. I'm in. _

FACTOR:_ Good luck, Drop. I hope you find what you're looking for. _

SINK:_ Thanks, Guru Mother. _

Mirei accessed the directory. These were pretty recent entries. They appeared to be case files. Mirei clicked on one, and a video came up. She saw a picture of Serge activating the Halcyon Scarlet. She clicked on another file, and got an action report written by Macus on the Brain Lizard. Mirei winced as the memory of what Brain Lizard did to her fellow hacker Spook popped into her head. Mirei scrolled down to the last entry, and clicked. _ May 2, 2097. _As an action report filled the screen, memories filled Mirei's head.

_The day started out so beautifully. It was spring, and the trees were all in bloom. It was two weeks after the End of Incubator. Jouichirou had invited me to the park. We were strolling along, talking about STAND, when Jouichirou pulled me down to a park bench. The sound of laughter and music filled the air._

Mireigasped and shook her head. She had visited this park a thousand times in her dreams. Now, the actual memories were returning.

_He looked me in the eyes, and told me that he had something to say. That he needed to get something off of his chest. _

"_Mirei. I…don't know how to…"_

The words coursed through Mirei like an electric current.

"_I guess I just need to come right out and say it. I love you, Mirei. I always have. I know I kidded with you a lot, but the truth is…I fell for you hard a long time ago. I know there is an age gap between us. I can understand if you don't feel ready for a serious relationship at fifteen…"_

_I giggled, and then I replied to Jouichirou. "I'm sixteen now, silly! My birthday was last week." _

_I remember how uncomfortable he looked, how he kept running his hand through his hair. He was blushing. He reached over, and grabbed my hand. _

"_I'll wait for you, Mirei. We can take it slow. If you want me, I'll wait until you feel the time is right. Until then, we can just be friends, and go on little dates. No commitment, not until you are ready. But when you are ready… I promise to be with you forever. What do you say?"_

_The excitement bubbled through me. I knew that I was ready now to be with Jouichirou. I wanted to tell him about all of the love just aching to burst out of my heart. I remember feeling light, almost giddy. Then… the ringing. First, in my implant. Then, Jouichirou's phone. We looked at each other. We knew. We were being called back for a mission. I met his eyes. Then we answered our calls. _

_We returned to STAND HQ. We were advised that a terrorist organization was threatening to discharge a dimensional oscillation weapon similar to the one that started Black Valentine. Their last known position was Tai Mo Shan Peak. In route, I was told by HQ to interface in order to receive a restricted transmission. I balked- I knew how dangerous that was- but they insisted. As I reached Tai Mo Shan, I detected and anomalous energy reading that I thought was the weapon…_

The dream replayed again, in slow and excruciating detail. Only this time, Mirei was awake.

_A deafening scream tore through the air. Lights flashed on the console only a few inches from my face, but I couldn't make sense of them. My hand reached out as if in slow motion, almost languidly, as I pulled on the striped lever._

_Then, blackness_.

Mirei slowly lifted her eyes from the screen. She had been told, after the incident, what had happened. But now, she knew. In that garbled image that had haunted her dreams was the clue. It hadn't been an external energy spike. It had been an internal one. The flashing lights from the dream- they were the warning lights signaling that the internal firewall had been lowered. Here, looking at the raw data from the internal recorders on the Razorback, it was clear what had happened. Apparently, the other team members suffered similar internal energy spikes. The last line of the action report said everything Mirei needed to know.

"Mission successfully completed at 1400 hours on date of initiation."


	8. Chapter 8 Revelation

Chapter 8- Revelation

Mirei blinked, and looked up. The room came into focus, and she saw Moonrise standing over her, looking worried.

"You're back! I thought a rabbit got you, but when I checked, everything was clean…" Moonrise trailed off.

"I… I must have blacked out for a minute… I haven't had much sleep the past few days, and I didn't eat much today. I'm OK now." Mirei said as she lifted herself off of the floor. Her head felt thick, and every time she moved, the room started spinning. She sat back down on the floor.

"Relax. I'll have Herald bring you something to eat. What do you like?" Moonrise inquired.

"Oh, I'm fine. I really need to be getting back. Here is your money." Mirei said as she fished around in her case.

"Well, anytime you need some chocolate, you know where to find us. I'm glad to see you back on the scene. Even the hackers are leaving New Hong Kong. This place is going to be a ghost town before you know it." Moonrise said as she extended a hand to help Mirei up off the floor.

Mirei stood unsteadily and shook her head. The day had really been too much for her. She wondered how she would make herself functional for tomorrow. It was almost 5:00 AM, and by the time she made it back to the hotel, she'd probably get less than 30 minutes of sleep.

As Mirei walked back to the Kowloon Hotel, she looked around. The streets were dark and deserted, even though the city should be waking up for the new day. She idly wondered how smart it was to be walking around downtown on her own at such an hour, when she realized she wasn't alone- a solitary figure loomed out of the darkness a few feet ahead of her.

"_Oh, great." _Mirei thought. "_What a fabulous time for the local toughs to put in an appearance. And I'm only a few blocks from the hotel…"_

The figure moved closer, and was fully revealed in a pool of light from a nearby streetlamp.

Mirei breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sunny! Thank goodness! I thought you were a mugger. What are you doing out here?" Mirei called as she recognized the figure under the lamp.

Sunny replied as she closed the distance between Mirei and herself. "I could ask you the same question, but I all ready know the answer." Sunny stopped directly in front of Mirei.

"What do you mean?" Mirei asked.

"Cut the crap, Mirei, and I'll do the same. I know you've been to the Golden Lotus. I know you were accessing some quads from the archives. The little game is over. I know what you're up to, and now I have to take you back to Tokyo, to see what they want to do with you." Sunny said as she crossed her arms in front of her. There was no laughter in her eyes.

"What in the hell? What is going on, Sunny? How dare you talk to me like that."

"I'll talk to you any way I please, Mirei. See, I don't actually work for you. I'm on special assignment- I answer to someone far higher on Atlas' food chain than you. My orders were to keep an eye on you- seems like the big dogs think you might try to pull something funny, even after the brainwashing. I thought they were nuts, but now, I have to tend to agree…" Sunny said in an offhand way.

"Do… are you working for Chief Harata? Was this whole trip a setup?" Mirei asked as she shook her head.

Sunny stared at her blankly. "Harata? Hardly. I answer to the Board itself. No, this little trip was a disaster of your own making."

"Are there…others on the team, other spies?" Mirei asked in bewilderment.

Sunny responded in measured tones. "Mirei, I'm not here to hurt you. My orders are just to take you back. All of this speculation- it's really pointless. As far as I know, I'm the only one watching you. If you've been up to other shenanigans, though, I'm sure the Board knows. They have their ways. Come on. I have the shuttle waiting in the alley over there. I took the liberty of packing your bags. We won't be returning to the archives."

"_Now would be the time to resist." _Mirei thought. "_But I'm just so tired. I'm not sure if I could…"_

Sunny interrupted Mirei's thoughts.

"Don't get any ideas, Mirei. Your little stunt with the sentries earlier didn't impress me nearly as much as it impressed that imbecile Macus. I know how to handle myself, and I'm armed." Sunny pulled a small pistol out of her pocket. "Come on. I want to get moving."

Mirei acquiesced, and allowed Sunny to guide her to the shuttle. They stepped into a little alley off of the main street. Mirei could see the shuttle about a block down. As they neared the shuttle, a figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Hold it right there, ladies. I'm afraid that's as far as you'll be going this morning." A calm voice rang out.

"I don't have time for this. I've got a gun, asshole! Turn around, and get out of here." Sunny snarled.

"Oh, you do?" the voice asked. The man step forward a little from the shadows. He was rather tall and imposing looking, with a brimmed cap tilted over his face. In a flash, he lunged forward, and grabbed the pistol out of Sunny's hand. "Sorry, hon. It looks like I have the gun now. I'm in a little bit of a hurry myself. I'm going to have to ask you to get into that large trunk over there." He motioned with the gun to his left.

Sunny took a step back, and began to cock her head.

" Don't bother. I'm jamming your implant. You can't call out." He held up a small blinking box. " I'm afraid you're going to have to crawl in there. You can do it the easy way," at this point, he cocked the pistol with his other hand, "or you can do it the hard way. You choose."

Sunny walked over to the trunk. The main trailed her with the gun. She looked around, and concluding there was no good way out, folded herself into the large trunk.

The man placed the blinking box on the top of the trunk, and locked it in one swift motion.

The man bent down and spoke to the trunk. "There is about an hour of air in there. In 3o minutes, the jammer will switch off. I highly advise you call the NHK Special Police Force to let you out. They have a better response time, and the right tools for the job. If you call the local security force, or some buddies of yours, you do so at your own risk." He gave the lid a pat as he stood.

"One down, one to go. OK, little lady- let's get a move on! I've got a second jammer, so calling in the Calvary is still out of the question." The man stepped behind Mirei, and propelled her toward the waiting shuttle with his hand. He opened the rear hatch, and told Mirei to get in. A moment later, Mirei felt the shuttle lift off. Her tired mind raced as she tried to get a handle on the situation. "_Crap. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. How do I get myself out of this one? I don't; at least not right now. If this guy is with some local street gang, I'm probably dead. He's just doing this for the fun of it- he'll probably rape me and kill me. If he's triad, I might actually have a chance. He'll be in it for the money, and his boss won't let him kill me until they try to get the ransom. If he's something else- a private contractor or something… I don't know. He seems pretty professional. He could have killed Sunny, but he didn't. He could have popped me pretty easily if he was just after the shuttle. My best bet is to wait until the shuttle lands, and surprise him when he comes to get me."_

Mirei looked around the cargo area. It was totally empty. Whatever she did to the man, it was going to have to be with her bare hands. She sighed. He looked pretty big, and she was so tired. Maybe she should try to catch just a little sleep…

In less than a minute, Mirei was curled up on the floor of the shuttle, fast asleep.


	9. Chapter 9 Reunion

Chapter 9- Reunion

The first thing Mirei noticed was the lack of movement. The second was how soft the cargo hold floor felt underneath her. Her eyes flew open, and as she blinked, she realized she wasn't in the shuttle any more. She sat up, and saw she was on a bed. The sheets felt smooth and cool on her skin. She looked around- she was in a tastefully appointed bedroom. One side of the room opened up to a screened-in pavilion of traditional Chinese style. Mirei could see the sun setting outside the pavilion. The room itself was sleek and elegant, with a low dresser against one wall, and an abstract painting in muted tones over the head of the bed. The walls were paneled in satiny, chocolate-brown wood of exotic grain. She rubbed her eyes, and swung her feet out of bed.

"What in the world…" Mirei said to herself.

This was definitely a new wrinkle. She couldn't imagine any kidnapper putting her up in such comfort. She wondered exactly where she was, and how long she had been sleeping. As if in reply to her unvoiced questions, a door swung open, and the man from the alley walked in. He waved his hand and told the room processor to bring the lighting up to 250 lumens. As the light chased away the gathering dusk, Mirei gasped. She knew this man.

"Well, its about time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty. You slept through a rough landing, a change in shuttles, and being carried up a flight of stairs on my back. In all, you've been out about fourteen hours."

"You. I know you. You're…" Mirei stopped, as the words stuck in her throat.

"You sure do know me- or at least I hope you do. Otherwise, I snatched a complete stranger off the streets! That could get ugly- kidnapping is frowned upon, you know." The man said jokingly as he closed the distance to the bed. His golden eyes were laughing.

"Jouichirou!" Mirei squeaked. She began to sob convulsively.

"Oh, hey! Don't cry, Mirei. I didn't mean to frighten you. I just didn't expect that girl to make a move so quickly, so I had to improvise…" Jouichirou stumbled awkwardly over the words as he ran a hand through his chin-length brown hair.

"You did the same thing...w-w-with your hair. That day." Mirei said in a hiccupping whisper.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Jouichirou said quietly as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Mirei. "I don't even know where to begin. For the longest time, I was afraid I had lost you forever. Those bastards did a thorough job on your memory. I was out of commission for a while, too, but they didn't get to me like they did you…"

"Where did you go? Where did the rest of STAND go after the incident?" Mirei asked as she looked probingly into his eyes.

"We were all injured- none of us like you, though. Raven was able to get us out, put us in hiding in Oceania- a small town about 80 kilometers outside of Melbourne. But you were too badly injured. To move you was to risk your life. So, we decided that we would keep watch over you. Protect you until the time was right. Unfortunately, they wiped your memory before we could get you. So our protection detail went on a little longer than we planned. I personally watched over you every day of those five years, hoping you would remember, that you would…remember _me_."

"You were there? All that time? Why didn't you say something? Try to contact me?" Mirei asked.

"I did on a couple of occasions in the beginning, but you didn't recognize me at all. Raven thought it best to leave you alone, to only interact with you if you showed signs of remembering. He thought that would keep you safe from them, and he was right. As long as you didn't remember, you posed no threat. They could use your skill and knowledge without worrying that you might expose them. So I contented myself with watching over you in secret." Jouichirou replied.

"Who are 'they'? Who did this to me?" Mirei asked through clenched teeth.

" 'They' are the Hive committee of LL. Somehow it leaked that Serge had acted on his own initiative, not as an agent of LL. After End of Incubator, LL took a lot of flak for planning to leave New Hong Kong to Virus. They orchestrated Tai Mo Shan as a way to get rid of us, to silence us. You were the only one they were able to completely incapacitate, though. Stock prices plummeted, and there was a call for a legal investigation into the Hive's actions. So, they quietly stepped down, and disappeared. After public indignation cooled a bit, Atlas Corporation suddenly bought out LL, and it seemed like everything was over. But the Hive had really just realigned themselves with Atlas, and they were still controlling things behind the scenes."

Mirei was shaking with anger. "So all of this time, I was working for the people who tried to kill me! I put my life into Sonata for all of that time, and now they are going to profit from my work! They even had a spy in my team- a person I had counted on, a person I had thought of as a friend… I want to take them down. I want to make them pay."

Jouichirou put his hand over Mirei's. "You have every right to feel that way. For what it's worth, I don't think they ever wanted to kill you. They wanted to use you- and they did. Plans have all ready been put into play to hold them accountable for their actions- _all _of their bad actions. Raven is on his way to explain this to you in detail. He should be here in about an hour. I also have things…of a more personal nature to discuss with you, but that can wait. I know you have a lot to absorb right now. I think the best thing to do at the moment is to concentrate on mundane things- give yourself a little time to catch your breath. I've set out some toiletries and some fresh clothes if you'd like to take a bath, and I'll get you something to eat."

"Don't leave me. Not now. I don't want to be alone." Mirei said, as tears welled up again in her eyes.

"I will never leave you, and you're never alone, OK? Even all of that time you thought you were alone, you weren't. I was right there. I'm just going into the other room to get some food. I'll be back here, waiting for you when you get out of the bath." Jouichirou said in a low, reassuring voice. He squeezed her hand, then stood to go.

"Thank you, Jouichirou." Mirei called out.

"You're welcome Mirei. It was my pleasure."

The warm water of the shower felt wonderful on Mirei's skin. After a quick, vigorous scrubbing, she shifted to the enveloping luxury of the deep bath. Slowly, the tension in her muscles subsided. She looked around her- this was a beautiful bathroom. Everything was covered in cream and peach marble, accented by glittering gold fixtures. One entire wall was a mirror, and Mirei watched her reflection as she bathed.

"Who am I? Who am I really?" The questions cut through the steamy air, as she addressed them to her reflection. "My life...has been a lie these past five years. How do I start over?"

After soaking for about half an hour, Mirei emerged from the bath. She wrapped one of the plush towels Jouichirou had laid out for her around her shivering frame. She turned to the outfit he had prepared for her- a pair of traditional silk Chinese pajamas in a bright peacock blue, with intricate embroidery scattered across the fabric. She slipped the lovely outfit on, and deftly closed the silken frog closures that marched at a diagonal across the top, and stepped into the matching silk slippers.

When she went back out, Jouichirou was waiting on the bed with a tray of food. His eyes lit up as she crossed the room.

"Mirei, you look wonderful in that color. I felt kind of bad- those were the only women's clothes I could find in the place, but they suit you perfectly. You look like some sort of ancient princess."

Mirei's cheeks colored at the compliment. "Mmm. Something smells great! What is it?"

"Ramen Jouichirou!" he said pointing to a steaming bowl. " A cool glass of barley tea, and a plate of fresh fruit. I remembered how much you liked mangoes and lychee, and I found some here, so…"

"Thanks! I'm starved. I didn't realize it until just now. It all looks heavenly!" Mirei gushed as she tucked into the food.

Jouichirou smiled proudly as he watched Mirei devour her food. He stroked her hair as she ate.

As Mirei finished, the door to the room opened.

"I guess the party's in here." A calm voice intoned.

Mirei looked up, let out a terrified shriek, and dumped the food tray into the floor as she jumped to her feet. Every muscle in her body was tensed, ready to strike.

"Chief Harata… How? Jouichirou! Get down! They found us!"

The man in the door approached the bed, his blue eyes impassive behind the wire rims of his glasses. "I take it you didn't inform Mirei that I would be coming, Jouichirou."

Mirei looked back and forth between the two men. "Jou? How could you… you sold me out to them?" Her voice rose to a terrified shrill. She turned, and in a flash was sprinting towards the glass door to the pavilion.

Jouichirou called out as he lunged towards Mirei. "Mirei, no! it's all right. This is Raven! I told you he was coming!" He grasped her arm, but she twisted free from his hold, and continued toward the door. As what Jouichirou said sank in, Mirei stopped mid stride. She turned, facing Raven.

"B…but I saw you. You're Harata. You're working for Atlas." Mirei was crying, a strained look on her face. "Jou… this is a trap. He lied to you. Get out now…"

Jouichirou grabbed Mirei by the shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes. "Mirei, it's Raven. It really is. He has been working at Atlas as Harata. It's part of the plan."

Mirei was trembling uncontrollably. "Papa Raven? No… Why. Why did you let them…" her knees sagged, and Jouichirou lowered her slowly to the floor.

Jouichirou looked at Raven, visibly shaken. "I didn't realize she had come into direct contact with you at Atlas. This is my fault. I've failed her."

"No, Jouichirou. It's my fault. I should have kept you better informed. I never actually met with her in person, but she saw my face and heard my voice in memos and calls." Raven spoke quietly as he walked over, and kneeled down beside Jouichirou and Mirei.

"Mirei, you're safe. I'm not here to hurt you. Whether you call me Raven or Harata is irrelevant. I am who I am; who I've always been. And who I am is the person who brought you to STAND, and who has been watching over you and guiding you that whole time. I would like to explain it all to you, if you feel you are ready. If not, I can wait. The choice is yours."

Mirei looked up at Raven with a tear-streaked face. She flung herself around his neck, and sobbed. "Oh, Papa Raven. I missed you so much."

Raven's blue eyes softened a bit as he patted her gently on the back. "I missed you too, Mirei. But now we're back together, and everything is as it should be."


	10. Chapter 10 Consummation

Chapter 10- Consummation

"Jouichirou. Would you please do a quick sweep of the official channels in the area? See if you pick up any chatter about the 'abduction'. Also, access Atlas' internal network. Use my code. I want to see what they are up to." Raven gave Jouichirou instructions as he rose to his feet. Mirei rocked back on her heels, then stood as well.

Jouichirou looked doubtfully at Mirei. "Maybe I should stay here while you talk, you know, as moral support."

"I'll be OK, Jou. Sorry about the scene earlier." Mirei's cheeks burned as she looked down.

"I would have been upset too, after a shock like that." Jouichirou said as he grabbed Mirei's hand, and gave it a squeeze. "I'm just in the next room, if you need me. Remember what I said earlier- you're never alone."

Jouichirou turned, and left the room.

"Let's go out here, and sit. Shall we?" Raven motioned towards the pavilion. "This has always been my favorite place in the house."

"You know this place well?" Mirei asked as they made their way out to the pavilion. There was a stack of colorful silk-covered cushions in one corner, and several traditional paper lanterns hanging from the beams of the ceiling in the otherwise bare room.

"Yes. It's my vacation home. We are about 200 kilometers north and 100 kilometers inland from New Hong Kong. I find the little hill we are on and the valley we overlook very peaceful. While I light these lanterns, why don't you choose a couple of cushions for us."

Mirei picked up two bright red cushions, and sat down on one. She looked out the screened windows as the stars twinkled over the valley. A soft breeze wafted through the screens.

After bringing the lanterns to life, Raven joined Mirei on the other cushion. "Are you ready to talk, or do you want to just sit and enjoy the evening?"

"I'm ready." Mirei resolutely replied.

"After you were injured, many things changed rapidly. I'm sure Jouichirou informed you of the broad outlines. Atlas Corporation quickly emerged as the new power player on the global scene. I decided to attach myself to Atlas in order to keep in check the power of certain individuals who had proven themselves not to be working in the public interest during the Virus episode." Raven began.

"The Hive." Mirei said, as much to herself as Raven.

"Yes. The Hive. They were intent on controlling the damage to their positions by the revelation that they, in fact, had been willing to concede New Hong Kong, and perhaps the rest of the world, to Virus."

"But…" Mirei hesitated a second, then continued. "But you opposed Serge's action, too."

"Yes, but for very different reasons. My commitment to contain Virus never wavered."

Mirei spoke again. "How… how can you have been a part of Atlas all this time without being detected by the Hive?"

"I never tried to conceal my identity. Shin Harata is my given name, though I had not gone by it in many years. I live my life exposed to the light of day. The Hive, however ,is forced to exist in the shadows. Like cockroaches, they must stay on the periphery, scuttling out only at night. They watch me from the shadows, but they cannot move directly against me. In their conceit, they think they know my intentions. They are complacent."

"What are your intentions?" Mirei asked.

Raven turned, and looked at Mirei. "To bring the cockroaches to light. The Hive severely mismanaged LL's response to Virus. With one hand, they gave to STAND, while they secretly prepared for retreat with the other. The blame for Black Valentine rests on my shoulders. The blame for Virus' reign of terror belongs to the Hive. The world deserves to know this. What they do with that knowledge is up to them."

"Where do I fit in to all of this?"

"At first, my goal was to remove you from Atlas as quickly as possible. You are my responsibility, along with the rest of STAND. I have an obligation to keep my team safe. However, as things progressed, I realized I could use the Hive's plans against them. They wanted to use your skills to line their own pockets and increase their standing in the business and technical communities . Again, their hubris worked against them. I let them believe they were using you, while in reality, STAND was using them. The Sonata project provided the perfect opportunity for exposing the Hive. Their record-breaking sales will unwittingly bring them down. Inside each Sonata implant is a special locked code that when activated, will transfer a file to every implant user detailing the Hive's actions to date."

Mirei looked at Raven. "That's what … I kept telling Kenji that some extraneous files had been included… He told me he took care of it… Is Kenji working for you?"

"Yes. He was my person inside the project. His job was twofold- he was responsible for inserting the code, and for making sure nothing happened to you."

Mirei shook her head. "I should have guessed. He was always so eager. Did you give me the old data files on purpose, so that I would find the STAND data and regain my memory?"

"Yes. It was a calculated risk. I felt you were ready, but I wasn't sure."

I figured. It was too convenient, finding those STAND quads."

" That was your own ingenuity, Mirei. I knew they were there, I didn't know if you would find them, or follow up the data if you did."

Mirei shook her head. "I still don't see how I fit in to the plan."

"You _were_ Sonata, Mirei. It was your brilliance that insured the Sonata would break all records, and be dispersed widely around the world. The sales figures are off the charts, and it's because you designed such a superb product. I was counting on that every bit as much as the Hive was- perhaps even more."

"So now what?" Mirei asked.

"So now, we wait. We wait until the Sonata fulfills its promise. We wait until it has widest market acceptance. And then, if you agree, you activate it, Mirei. And you go public, as team leader, verifying the truth of the file, so the Hive can't spin it as a prank or a malicious program."

"What about the rest of STAND? What has become of them?" Mirei questioned.

"They are in Oceania right now. They are providing support for this project. Macus is continuing to look for his brother. The others have various side projects as well. After this, who knows? All I know, Mirei, is that your time in STAND, the Sonata project- those were the crucibles that formed you. Your potential is only limited by your imagination. "

Raven stood, and looked out the window at the warm night. "I've left you with a lot to think about. I know Jouichirou has things he wants to say to you as well. You are welcome to stay here as long as you wish- I will see to it that you are not disturbed. If you want to see through the plan with me, contact me. We are probably at least six months from maximum market penetration, so you have time to decide. I will be returning to Tokyo tonight. Good bye, Mirei."

"Good bye, Raven."

In a couple of minutes, Jouichirou entered the pavilion. "Hey. It's just me." He sat down on the cushion beside Mirei. He could see tears streaming down her cheeks in the flickering lantern light.

He reached over, and wiped at the tears with the back of his hand. "Hell of a day, huh?"

"Jouichirou. Did you know that my other key assistant on Sonata wasn't really working for me, either? He was Raven's man. Every single thing about the last five years was a lie. Top to bottom. Oh. I need to get in contact with Macus Yu, the Atlas Head Archivist. He's our Macus' cousin, and he'd really like to know what's going on. That is, if Atlas hasn't all ready taken him out for passing files to me." Mirei said as she shook her head.

"Done. I talked to Big Mac right after you left the archives. He may not look it, but he's actually a pretty resourceful guy. He'll be fine." Jouichirou said with a chuckle. "Apparently, you made quite an impression on him. I sort of had to insist that he not consider pursuing a relationship with you. I…hope that was OK." Jouichirou ended lamely.

Mirei turned, and looked at Jouichirou. "That's fine… No. That's more than fine. That's exactly what I would have said, too."

Jouichirou turned, and looked at Mirei. "I… wow. Maybe this isn't the time. As a matter of fact, I'm sure it isn't. You've had too much dumped in your lap today. I'll just wait. I can…"

Mirei grabbed Jouichirou's hands, leaned in, and kissed him hard on the mouth. She leaned further into him as they kissed, and they fell back across one of the silk cushions on the floor. Mirei reached between Jouichirou's legs and rubbed the part of him that was responding to her presence. Jouichirou placed his hands under Mirei's shirt, and moaned slightly under her kiss. Mirei explored every crevice of his mouth, lightly teasing the tip of his tongue with her own. When she was done, she sat back on her heels. "What you have to tell me is the only thing I want to hear, Jou. It's the thing I've been waiting to hear. For five years, to be exact. I remember that day in the park. Before we were interrupted, I wanted to tell you that I _was_ ready to be with you. I was, and I am. If you still want me, that is."

Jouichirou's cheeks flushed, as he scrambled to sit back up. He stammered his reply. " I… want you, Mirei. I want to be with you."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Mirei asked, smiling coyly. "tonight isn't the beginning of the end, it's the end of the beginning."


End file.
